


A Tale Of Two Brothers

by Whirlwind



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brotherly Bonding, Brothers, Family, Gen, Growing Up, Mud Brothers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28341555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whirlwind/pseuds/Whirlwind
Summary: Much to his dismay, Clarke is tasked by Malivore with finding and looking after a young Landon Kirby until he comes of age to be the proper vessel. He resents both the task and the child, but does as his father wishes and helps to raise his little brother. What he doesn’t expect however, is to grow to care for boy, finding a sense of family with each other that neither of them has ever had before.[A canon divergent collection of Clarke and Landon short stories]
Relationships: Ryan Clarke & Landon Kirby
Comments: 10
Kudos: 22





	1. Hello, Brother.

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve always wanted to see this dynamic explored. So if the show won’t give me these two begrudgingly becoming real brothers, I thought I'd write some myself. Plus this has been sitting in my drafts for months, so why not finally just post it? Lol.

Clarke’s not really a kid person. Never has been. So when his father suddenly tells him that he’s supposed to go out into the world and find the child that's “the blood of his blood” to look after him, he can’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of such a task. Surely he can’t be serious?

But lo and behold, this isn’t just some elaborate practical joke that’s been played on him. He should have known better, Malivore never did have a sense of humor.

He’s been around for centuries, acquired invaluable knowledge, captured hundreds of monsters, and yet he’s been reduced to nothing more than a babysitter. It was an absolute insult to all he'd accomplished. Still... his father had tasked him with this, and no matter how much he hated it, he still had the troublesome urge to make his father proud, and so he agrees to do it.

It takes some time, and quite a bit of digging through Triad’s archives before he eventually manages to find the child in question. After narrowing down the identity of the mother, a woman by the name of Seylah Chelon, who had once worked as a monster hunter for the organization, he learns what became of the kid. The boy is now eight years old, named Landon Kirby, and is currently in the foster care system.

Armed with fake paperwork, a charming smile, and a very useful artifact of persuasion from Triad, Clarke manages to secure custody of the boy with relative ease. Gotta love a good magical item, right?

The first time he meets the would-be vessel, he's exceedingly underwhelmed. A small, curly haired boy with wide green-grey eyes stares up at him with an innocent gaze that borderlines on annoying. This little pipsqueak is the prodigal son? The golden child destined to carry on the new species? What an absolute joke. He looked like a gust of wind could take him out at any second. What on earth was Malivore thinking when he created him?

It certainly doesn't help matters any that there are numerous physical similarities that the two brothers both share. That part actually _really_ pisses Clarke off, because it acted as a reminder that he was the imperfect failure who fell short of being what their father wanted.

“Are we really brothers?” Landon asks when they meet, face hopeful and excited. All he's ever wanted was a family, and after all these years in foster care, it was finally happening.

Clarke feigns enthusiasm for the boy, and the delight of being reunited with his little bro, and of course the woman from the agency buys it like the idiot she is. Or perhaps he was simply just a good actor. Who knows? Either way, it works.

But she's not the only one he fools though, and poor Landon isn't prepared for the 180 degree flip in demeanor when the two of them are finally alone together in the car, as they drive back to Georgia. Any warmth Landon thought he saw in his brother is replaced with cold impatience, and a general disinterest towards him. His tiny heart shatters in disappointment at the charade. He's so confused and hurt. He doesn't understand what’s happened. Did he already do something wrong?

The child is quick to realize that there will be no hugs or affection shown to him here, like he's always longed for. This will be no different than his previous foster homes, where he was nothing more than an inconvenience to those around him. He spends the entire rest of the ride gazing out of the window in the backseat, lower lip trembling as he tries his hardest not to cry.

Upon their arrival late that evening, Landon finds a small two story house near the suburbs is his new residence, close to Clarke's job at Triad. Though he's thankful that he's got food, clothes, and a roof over his head, his hopes of a true family are dashed. He feels terribly alone, and he wonders if maybe it would have been better if he'd never left. Maybe if he hadn't, there could have still been a chance that someday, someone might truly want him. But perhaps that was always just wishful thinking.

After a very brief tour of the place, Landon is shown to what will now be his bedroom, and is left there for the rest of the night. After unpacking the small handful of things from his tiny suitcase, the lonely child crawls underneath the sheets. He wraps them tightly around himself, in a failed attempt at some semblance of comfort. Staring up at the ceiling, he can't help but think how his wishes of being tucked in at night, and read bedtime stories to help him sleep seem oh so laughable now.

He cries himself to sleep that evening, and hope's with all of his heart that this was just some horrible nightmare he'll wake up from in the morning. But when the sunrises and shines in through his window, he finds he's in the same room he started in last night, and his heart breaks all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These won't all be angsty, but the first couple are.


	2. A Parent’s Love (Or A Lack Thereof)

_“Did you find the child?”_

Malivore inquires telepathically, as Clarke stands in front of the pit inside the Triad compound. _  
_

“Really? Not even a hello? Gee dad, you should really brush up on your manners."

When he gets no response from the sentient pile of ooze, Ryan sighs and folds his arms over his chest.

“Yes, I found the little runt. **_Great_** job with him by the way." He retorts, voice absolutely dripping with sarcasm. "He's gonna be a _**real**_ lady killer."

_"He will succeed where you failed."_

Clarke recoils slightly, and tightly grits his teeth. "Where _you_ failed." He mutters bitterly. It wasn't his fault he was sterile and lacked powers.

_"The vessel is to be kept safe until he reaches the proper age."_

"I know the plan." He spat hastily, and he could sense Malivore's growing impatience with him.

_"Fail me, and I'll return you back from whence you came."_

Ryan swallows hard at the threat, but manages a shaky nod to convey his understanding.

_"Good. Then go. I'm done with you."_

"Yes, father." Clarke whispers weakly, exhaling a sigh as he makes his leave.

* * *

Still fuming from his encounter with his dad, Clarke storms in through the front door, slamming it behind him. Landon's at school right now, so he doesn't have to worry about dealing with the little snot right now. Thank God. But he still needs to channel this pent up energy somewhere, so he does what he always does at times like this. Goes on a cleaning binge. Yes, the irony is not lost on him that he's a mud man who stress cleans.

Maybe it's because there's always been this looming lack of control in his life, but something about organizing and cleaning seems to scratch that itch. Like it lulls him into thinking he actually has a leg to stand on in this situation.

After finishing off the first floor, he moves upstairs to tackle that part of the house. He’s almost through cleaning up the kid’s room when he finds a small black book hidden underneath his bed. Without even an ounce of hesitation or guilt, Clarke opens up the journal and begins to sift through it.

The inside of the front cover reads: _“Dear Landon, I know there’s been a lot of big changes in your life recently. So I hope you use this book to help sort out your feelings. Sincerely, Mrs. Winters”_

He vaguely recalls that name belonging to Landon’s guidance counselor at school.

"Nosy old woman." He mutters under his breath in annoyance, before flipping to the next page. The first couple of pages contain mostly a collection of nonsense: _"My name is Landon Kirby. My favorite color is blue. I love Star Wars."_ Blah blah blah... Boring stuff that Clarke quickly skips over.

Eventually, he finds something that catches his attention. _'I have a big brother now. His name is Clarke. I don’t think he likes me very much though, but at least he doesn’t hit me.’_

His body tenses up slightly as he reads that last part. That explained a lot of things, like why the boy was always so skittish all the time. Anytime Clarke ever lifted his hand too high, Landon cowered and starting rambling off a strew of apologies for no reason. Just how bad had his previous foster homes been for him to write this?

The Triad agent then decides he's done snooping for now, but as he goes to return the journal, a picture falls out of the back, fluttering to the ground below. Clarke stoops down to pick it up and carefully begins to unfold it. The photo is of a young woman holding a baby, but the thing that really catches his attention is the Triad symbol on her necklace. Flipping it over, he finds writing on the back that reads: _‘Landon & Seylah’_

So this was Landon with his mother. He'd only seen a brief picture of her once in Triad's employee files, but that was about it. She'd done a pretty good job at disappearing after Malivore released her from the pit. The child she'd been burdened with was the only trace he'd been able to find on her in recent years. She'd ditched the kid on the steps of a church when he was only a couple weeks old. He hadn’t heard anything else about her ever since.

Clarke is only partly surprised to see that Landon kept her picture in spite all that. Abandoned by a parent, yet still craving their love, boy did he unfortunately understand that. Something akin to empathy bubbles up for a minute, but he's quick to stamp it out and let the resentment ebb back in. At least the so called 'perfect son' had all of daddy's love to tide him over.


	3. Of Monsters And Men

It's late at night when a noise catches Clarke's attention, and he looks up from working on his laptop to find a trembling Landon standing in the doorway, clutching a stuffed bear firmly to his chest. He heaves a sigh at the unwanted interruption before him, and leans back against the headboard.

“Something I can do for you Landon?” He asks impassively, and the boy hesitates, biting his lip nervously as he contemplates whether to speak or not. Even at eight, Landon wasn't dense to how his brother felt about him, though he didn't know the reason for the animosity. He always did his best to stay out of Ryan's hair, so the fact that he was standing here right now meant he was truly desperate.

After a minute or so of internal debating, he manages to work up the nerve and find his voice, albeit a shaky one.

“I- I had a bad dream. Can I stay with you tonight? Please?”

“It was just a dream, go back to bed.” Clarke tells him impatiently, already returning back to the documents on the screen to convey that this discussion is over.

The child shrinks in disappointment, but his eyes grow wide in panic as the nightmares replay in his mind. “B-but what if the the flying rock monster shows up? Or the one eyed troll. Or the fish man!”

This suddenly grabs Ryan's attention. His head snaps back up, expression a mixture of perplexed and intrigued as he stares at his younger brother. “What was that?”

It's possible that the child could have simply just stumbled across a scary movie on TV, and that was the source of his current bout of terror. But Clarke's quick to realize that the boy sounds an awful lot like he's describing monsters that have been tossed into Malivore.

"It was so dark there, and the place felt so..." Landon's young mind struggles with how to best convey how that place made him feel. Emotions he can't quite find the proper words for, but that at times, he himself has felt. "Sad." He finally decides on, because he feels it best encompasses that empty pit it left in his stomach.

Clarke’s taken aback by the boy’s recollection of the nightmare. It was one of the first real signs that the child had any ties to Malivore at all. He had no idea how their connection worked, but clearly he truly was their father's vessel. An unfamiliar pang briefly makes itself known in his chest at the thought of the future that awaits the unknowing kid, but he's quick to shake it off. That was the whole reason he was created, Ryan reminds himself.

Landon fidgets nervously in the doorway, waiting for the older man to finally say something. Eyes pleading silently with the hope that he can stay. He can't bare the idea of being alone tonight.

It was already clear that this kid was going to be a major inconvenience, and Clarke can't help but wonder if this is also some form of punishment courtesy of his father for being such a disappointment. It honestly wouldn't surprise him.

He doesn't have the energy to deal anymore of the boy's incessant whining about nightmares, so he finally relents on the matter.

“Fine.” Clarke begrudgingly agrees with a loud and heavy sigh, pulling back the covers. “But we’re not making a habit of this, got it?”

The child nods vigorously, smiling in utter relief, before rushing into the room and leaping up onto the bed beside his brother. Landon begins to burrow himself under the covers, nestling the teddy bear he's named Wicket (after an Ewok from Star Wars), under his chin. He snuggles up against Clarke's side and the man exhales an annoyed groan, immediately regretting the decision.

"Just keep it down, alright? I still got work to do."

Landon hums lightly in agreement, resting his head into the fluffy white pillow behind him.

Much to Clarke's surprise, the kid is true to his word, and he basically forgets the boy is even there until sometime later when he lets out a small whimper. Turning to check on him, the whimpering increases and the child begins to shake, tears silently streaming down his face as monsters return to terrorize his dreams.

Memories and feelings of his own time trapped in the Malivore pit sit heavy in his throat and Ryan swallows uncomfortably. He can’t imagine how a very confused eight year old is handling that place.

Frowning slightly, Clarke quietly pushes himself off the bed and heads over to his closet. He grabs an intricate wooden box off the top shelf and places it down on the nightstand to open it up. The box contains a hodgepodge of magical objects he's procured over the years. Things he rather not have Triad know about.

Rummaging through it’s contents, he pulls out a bracelet with a silver charm on it, in the shape of a dream catcher. He picked up this handy little puppy while trying to capture a dream demon a couple years back. It protects the mind during sleep and filters out magically induced nightmares. He hadn’t really expected to ever have use for it again, but here he was.

Clarke sits back down on the mattress and leans over to tie the strap around the child’s exposed wrist. The shift is almost immediate as Landon’s body begins to relax and his breathing starts to slow to a normal rate. His anguished expression gradually fades, turning soft and quietly content. The whimpers cease as well, and are replaced with a very faint snore.

As Clarke goes to pull away, he's caught off guard when Landon's small hand lightly grabs his wrist. He can't explain why exactly, but it feels strangely like a thank you from the kid. When Ryan notices his own lips turning upward in the vaguest hint of smile, he yanks his arm away and scowls as if betrayed by his own body.

He only gave the boy the bracelet so that the little twerp wouldn’t bother him anymore with his silly little nightmares. There was certainly no way in hell that it was because he actually cared about the kid.


End file.
